Monthly Archives: July 2012

During his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, André conducted over 50 scientific experiments in the world’s only permanent microgravity laboratory. A medical doctor by training, André conducted biophysics experiments that could offer insights into...

In his first blog entry since returning to Earth, ESA astronaut André Kuipers looks back at the intense experience of the landing and explains how the PromISSe mission hasn’t quite finished for him yet. He writes: “My...

ESA astronaut André Kuipers is spending the next couple of weeks at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, where his PromISSe mission continues with post-flight tests, revalidation and debriefings. After arriving in Houston early on 2 July he said: “The return journey went perfectly. It was quite tough, I felt sick when I was back on Earth, and wasn’t able to walk straightaway. But the care we were given was great and I soon felt better. I was able to take a long sleep in the plane on the way to America. I sat in the grass for a while during one of the stopovers. It smelt so good! I saw...

ESA astronaut André Kuipers, together with his Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan on 1 July 2012, at 10:14 CEST (08:14 UT), in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. During his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, André conducted over 50 scientific experiments in the world’s only permanent microgravity laboratory. Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2012

Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers were greeted in a traditional ceremony at the airport in Karaganda, Kazakhstan on 1 July 2012, hours after landing in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. After the ceremony, the crew split up, with Kononenko returning to his training base in Star City, Russia, while Pettit and Kuipers boarded a NASA plane in Karaganda to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The trio completed 193 days in space and 191 days aboard the International Space Station following a launch in late December. The...

The Soyuz TMA-03M undocked from the International Space Station at 06:47 CEST (04:47 UT) this morning, starting the return journey to Earth for ESA astronaut André Kuipers, NASA’s Don Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. They are set to land in Kazakhstan at 10:14 CEST (08:14 UT).

Expedition 31 crewmembers André Kuipers, Don Pettit and Oleg Kononenko have said their farewells to the rest of the International Space Station crew and entered their Soyuz spacecraft ahead of their return to Earth. The hatches between the ISS and the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft were closed at 03:32 CEST (01:32 UT). They will now perform leak checks of their spacecraft and are scheduled to undock from the ISS at around 06:48 CEST (04:48 UT). Watch the replay from NASA TV: